UFC fighter wants company to punish Nordine Taleb after Homophobic Slurs and attempted assault

After UF Fight Night 130 from Liverpool England, BJJ Black Belt Claudio Hannibal Silva had another run in with his opponent Nordine Taleb who he had just submitted in the first round. Following a dominate wrestling, GNP, submission chain, Claudio says Taleb approached him after the match, with some choice words, and a threatening message.

“I think the UFC should do something about it. Can you imagine if my mom or my son were there to hear those things? That guy is the scum of the sport. That’s what I think. He had 15 minutes to beat me and couldn’t do it. Now he wants to fight on the streets? He has to be banned from the sport.”

“He kicked me in the leg as I was sitting on the ground. He said, ‘(Expletive) you, you’re a (expletive). You robbed me. You didn’t win that fight. You told the referee I was holding your gloves and then you got the choke.’”

“I’m a professional fighter at the end of the day. It’s not professional to say those kinds of words. And man, I feel really bad for the sport. I come to fight. I don’t hate anyone. I just came there and did my job.

“I just looked at him and laughed, because we don’t have to do these kinds of things. We are professional fighters. We get paid to fight. It’s really bad for the sport. I’ve never experienced it before.”

Silva then claimed that Taleb challenged him by calling him a homophobic slur and stating ‘F—k you, you son of a bitch. You’re a piece of sh-t. I’ll beat you 10 times out of 10. Let’s go right now’. I was like ‘What’s your problem? Are you crazy?’ and he replied by saying ‘If anybody talks to me like that, I’ll kill them. You’re nobody, you’re sh-t.’

“I don’t have to give him a rematch, because he’s not relevant,” Silva continued. “There’s nothing to do with him any more. He’s in the past now.”

So far there have been no comments from the UFC, although each athlete has a code of conduct clause in their contract which would make them responsible for comments as they reflect badly on the company, and can create a workplace of fear and intimidation.